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The unyielding level of authority Zynga has over its paying customers was exposed this week, as fans of social network game Street Racing continue to protest an unexplained decision to abolish the game.

Those fans, having together invested untold amounts of real money into the Facebook game, have been told that Zynga will be deleting Street Racing from its servers on August 2nd.

Choosing against offering an apology, or explanation, Zynga quietly published a small, colourful note on its forums to announce “Street Racing will be shutting its garage doors and will no longer be open for business”.

Street Racing’s abolishment highlights the largely untold tension between digital content and its consumers, with more content existing online and no longer under the unconditional ownership of those who pay for it.

Zynga has raised $519 million in investment and has been valued at $5 billion by independent analysts, according to Lovell.

The company has a chequered past despite its phenomenal growth, last year finding itself at the centre of an advertisement scam which damaged the firm’s reputation.